Katie Rausch | Jackson Citizen PatriotSeth Foster, left, speaks with his lawyer while pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty resulting in death Friday morning in Jackson County District Court.

About the time his jury trial was scheduled to begin, a 23-year-old pleaded guilty this morning to a misdemeanor for allowing his dog to kill a raccoon in a way prosecutors deemed cruel.

In hindsight, Seth Foster, the subject of much recent media attention, admitted he could have done more on Aug. 1 to stop the blue heeler from causing the death of the coon, which Foster said was damaging his family garage.

He allowed the young animal to unnecessarily suffer, he said, answering questions posed by his lawyer, David Lady.

“I am just trying to get it over with,” Foster of Spring Arbor Township said outside the courtroom of Jackson County District Judge Michael Klaeren.

Since a Citizen Patriot story earlier this month, in which Foster called the charge “ridiculous,” Foster’s case has gotten nation-wide attention, much of it supportive of his position.

He declined an earlier settlement offer from the prosecutor’s office, saying he was innocent, and Lady was prepared to take the case before a jury. “As much as I wanted to go to trial, it’s the classic offer you can’t refuse,” Lady said today.

Foster pleaded guilty as charged to animal cruelty resulting in death and the prosecutor’s office agreed to a delayed sentence. This means, if Foster does not get into any trouble and complies with all court orders and conditions, the conviction will be wiped from his record after up to one year. His next court appearance is scheduled for April 5. He will spend no time in jail.

Prosecutors also are dismissing an unrelated malicious destruction of property charge filed against Foster last year.

On Aug. 14, one of Foster’s friends, whom Foster was with, pulled an electrical fuse out of a mobile home box, causing the residence to lose power. As a result, some meat allegedly went bad and a fish in a tank died, Foster said.

For that case, Foster has only to make sure the $205 restitution gets paid, Lady said. His co-defendant is jointly responsible.

Klaeren said the resolution appeared to be “appropriate.”

The plea agreement recognized both Seth Foster’s youth and that the animal offense was not “the crime of the century,” Chief Assistant Prosecutor Mark Blumer said.

Blumer said he received calls or e-mails from supportive animal rights groups and case-related “hate mail” from as far away as Nebraska and New Orleans since the Feb. 9 newspaper story.

Nearly 500 online comments were posted on the initial report. Many of them were critical of the prosecutor’s office. A CNN host likened the circumstances to someone being prosecuted for swatting a fly.

Foster’s father, Mike Foster, who owns a nuisance animal control business, said he did radio interviews with stations as far away as Seattle. There also have been threats, he said. He was called “disgusting.”

“Many people have misunderstood what this case has been about. This case was never simply about the death of that raccoon. It was never an indictment of hunting or trapping nor was it about animal rights,” Prosecutor Hank Zavislak said in a statement. “This case has always been about the why and how this animal was killed.”

Zavislak released for the public today video clips of the dog attacking the raccoon near Foster’s home on Ivan Drive off Chapel Road. One of two teenage boys who accompanied Foster on Aug. 1 used a cell phone to film the incident. The clips total about three minutes, but some of the time the raccoon clearly is dead.

The boys also were charged. Their cases were handled by the juvenile court and diverted, which means no legal record of an alleged wrongdoing exists upon completion of a court-ordered program.

In the recordings, the dog, named Grizz, has the coon in its mouth and viewers can hear it squealing. The attack begins in the garage, where Foster said he sent the dog because of damage to or a mess in the garage. Blumer said he has not seen proof of damage.

At one point, Seth Foster grabs the raccoon. He says he was trying to get it from Grizz and the dog got it back; prosecutors say he gave it back to Grizz when it started to get away.

Participants appear to be encouraging Grizz. A woman called 911 from her sister’s nearby house and told a deputy the three were instigating the dog to tear up and throw a raccoon around the yard, according to a police report. They kept telling Grizz to “get it,” she reported.

Seth Foster and his father watched the recordings today, Mike Foster said.

It is hard to tell what jurors would think, said Mike Foster, who has been in the wildlife control business for nearly 30 years. His son works with him. “(Seth) is going to be taking over this business one day, and I don’t need this hanging over his head.”